Mark Ward (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein)
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Some people who have contacted my office have said that, for example, the response from the HSE is that, at present, adults who have an eating disorder diagnosis and require public inpatient care can be referred to any HSE-approved acute inpatient mental health centre.

Parents and young adults who get in touch with me about their experiences of going into acute mental health facilities that do not have a specialist multidisciplinary eating disorder team, which is needed, have said they are not good experiences. They are brought in when their body mass index, BMI, is at 11 or 12. They are at a critical stage and their BMI increases while they are there. They feel they do not get the adequate specialist care they need. There is no supervision around their food intake.

There are people going into eating disorder services who are basically begging staff to make sure they eat correctly and they feel they are not getting the care they need. What happens is that they are released from the acute mental health service back into the community, which is the environment in which the eating disorder first occurred. They find themselves going back to having an eating disorder and returning to an acute mental health ward, and the cycle continues. Parents and young adults who have been in touch with me have said that this has happened to them countless times and that it is a vicious cycle. I know Ms Hastings said that there is private capacity available, but people find it very difficult to be referred to the private units and if they are referred, there is a waiting list to get into them.

Ms Hastings answered my question but I will ask it again. Does she think the provision of three public beds in the State is adequate? Why is the Government prioritising community hubs and community care over inpatient care as part of its model of care? Can the two models be followed in parallel? I would like to see the community services being resourced at the same time as the inpatient public services.